Put your game face on and watch the Lord fight for you!

      It’s Summer, y’all! There is so much I want to say, but I know I can’t write a book. Or can I? Lol. Seriously, there is a lot that the Lord has been doing in my life this year already. One thing to celebrate is that I graduated from my 3rd year at Jesus School on May 4th!!! Even writing those words brought tears to my eyes just now. Wow. I was not expecting that. I will share about my Jesus School experience soon. I promise. I just still can’t speak about it without the floodgates bursting forth. Anyways, I want to touch on a few things that I really feel the Lord prompting me to. Back in January I shared from Numbers 32, what the Lord had spoken to me about “Year of Breakthrough”. I mentioned how the Israelites were getting ready to cross the Jordan River to the Promised Land. That the Reubenites and Gadites said in Numbers 32:18, “We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has taken possession of his inheritance.” After that, Moses replied, “If you do this—if you arm yourselves for battle before the Lord, and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies from his presence, and the land is subdued before the Lord—afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the Lord.” Alrighty. What I heard the Lord speaking to me immediately after I posted that is pivotal. I remember just being so excited about the breakthrough that God was revealing to me that the breakthrough was all that consumed my thoughts. Like finally, everything God spoke to me will finally happen! Yippee! Ok, Taja. Yes, but there’s more. Very soon after I shared that I immediately felt like things suddenly got harder. Like I was treading through mud and the struggle was real. I can’t explain it other than I just felt that things spiritually in my life was a battle. Without going into too much detail, a lot was happening that I had to face and walk through that I knew that if I did not allow myself to face these things, I would be stuck. It was then that I remembered this passage about the Israelites being equipped for war. They had to arm themselves for battle! Then as you may guess, the lightbulb started to flash in my head. When there’s a breakthrough in anything, something has to break! It doesn’t come easily. You have to break in order to get through! In that breaking there’s a battle. There’s warfare. That’s what I was and still am experiencing. I’m sure many of you may have been or are still currently experiencing the warfare. One thing that was repeated multiple times by Moses that I couldn’t escape was in verse 21, “and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies from his presence...” Again, all of the men were armed for battle to drive out the enemy. It wasn’t an “I’m fighting on my own”, it’s “God is with us. We’re an army fighting together until the enemy is defeated.” Is there warfare? Yes. Are you alone in this battle? No.

My favorite scripture for encouragement is from John 16:33 which says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus has overcome the world! Yes we will face battles and things will try to weigh us down, but we keep our gaze fixed on the Overcomer! We are not alone. Also, thankfully we can read scripture and look at the outcome of the Israelites. Did they make it to the Promised Land. Yep. The battle is already won with the Lord! Take heart in that. Hold on to Jesus. Just don’t give up!

I also want to share what the Holy Spirit reminded me of as I was writing. It was of a vision I had during an encounter in worship at Jesus School. In this vision I bowed my head and Jesus placed a crown on my head. Once I received the crown, He handed me a sword and then I immediately did this martial arts karate spin move like from Xena Warrior Princess and chopped off the head of a giant! It was insane! Jesus crowned me and gave me the weapons to fight and kill giants! I will break down as much as I can. First, Jesus placed the crown on my head after I bowed to receive. In that speaks identity. He is saying, “You are My daughter. You are royalty. I give you authority.” All I had to do was accept it and receive it. Then once I accepted who I am, He handed me a sword. Jesus gave me the weapon I needed in that moment to fight. Then once I was handed the weapon, it was game over. I was filled with the power to kill the giant! That Xena Warrior Princess move came from Him! Even I was shocked at what I was able to do! Lol. Seriously I remember in that vision being amazed at what I was capable of. When I think of scripture, I am reminded of King David. David embraced who he was. He already killed a lion and a bear! In David’s words, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) David knew it was the Lord who would fight for him against the Philistine. He just put on what he had, picked up the weapons in front of him and stepped up to the plate to fight. God took care of the rest. Lastly, one of my recent favorites is Gideon. The Israelites were oppressed and impoverished because of the Midianites. The Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:12) God spoke identity to Gideon and then said that He is with him. God is all we need. He empowers us. Look at the areas you may be facing a challenge in. That just may be where you experience your breakthrough! Put your game face on and watch the Lord fight for you!